


lover

by intertwiningwords



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Break Up, Gen, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23321953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intertwiningwords/pseuds/intertwiningwords
Summary: my stranger things series "lover", which will be fics inspired by each song on taylor swift's latest album. each song will be a chapter, correlated with a different ship or character!!
Relationships: (past), Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler
Kudos: 9





	lover

**Author's Note:**

> the first part of my stranger things series "lover", which will be fics inspired by each song on taylor swift's latest album!!
> 
> this chapter is for the first song, "i forgot that you existed"
> 
> i hope you enjoy it!! xo

After graduating, Steve felt lost.

No girlfriend, no friends, no future.

He missed Nancy, and even Tommy and Carol too. He missed smiles in the halls and gaggles of giggling freshman girls. He missed playing sports, and even missed some of his kinder teachers, although he didn’t like to admit it.

And fuck, he even missed his rivalry with Billy, even though it had mostly just ended with him getting the shit kicked out of him, but at least he  _ felt  _ something when his face was bruised and swollen like that.

His job at Scoops Ahoy was certainly not helping. Sure, it was something to do, taking his mind off the loneliness and putting extra money in his pocket, but seeing groups of friends come in for ice cream, shopping bags on their arms and smiles plastered on their faces made him feel horrible.

“Hey, dingus!” Robin’s voice called from the back room. “Pretty girl at three o’clock. Shall we give the board a new tally?”

“Not in the mood, Robin,” he replied, and simply served the aforementioned pretty girl her ice cream without saying a word more than necessary.

When he turned back to look at his coworker, she was frowning.

“What’s got you down in the dumps?” she asked, furrowing her brows.

“Nothing. Why do you care?”

“Because I’m the one who’s cooped up in here with you all day. I’d like it to be a little more entertaining.”

He shot her a look, and she smiled.

“And, because I do actually care,” she added, eyes softening.

“Do you ever miss high school?” he asked.

She snorted. “Fuck no! Do you?”

“...No?”

“It’s okay if you do. We had wildly different high school experiences. You were popular, so of course,  _ you _ enjoyed it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Robin rolled her eyes, but there was a fond sort of smile on her face. “You liked high school because you were  _ popular _ , not because you liked your teachers or your classes or anything like that. You liked it because you felt like you belonged. Girls were crushing on you left and right, and every dude wanted to be like you. You had power, and you never felt out of place. But for me, it was the opposite. I felt out of place the whole goddamn time,” she explained. “Now, I feel like I have more room to find where I belong, and I’m excited to not be constrained by the social hierarchies of high school. You, however, are without a place on the pedestal for the first time, and you feel lost because of it. It makes total sense.”

Steve furrowed his brows, taking in what she’d said. “Shit...That actually makes me feel better, I think. Thanks, Robin.”

She grinned, jabbing his chest with the end of her scooper. “No problem. Now, should I serve that girl, or you wanna show off your Harrington charm?”

He puffed out his chest. “Get the board ready, Buckley.”

(The tally went on the “you suck” side, but that was beside the point. At least he’d gotten some of his confidence back.)

***

At first, seeing Nancy hurt.

Hawkins was a small town, so it wasn’t uncommon to spot her across streets, Nancy making a coffee run for work as he drove towards Starcourt for his shift.

It was worse to see her with Jonathan, fingers interlocked and smiling.

He remembered how her hands fit in his, and making her laugh. He remembered spending holidays with her family, watching Mike unwrap the present Steve had insisted on getting him. What kind of boyfriend would he be if he didn’t get Nancy’s siblings gifts?

Well, now he wasn’t anyone’s boyfriend at all, and certainly not Nancy Wheeler’s boyfriend, and being lonely kind of sucked. He was a good-looking, charming young guy. What more did he need to do?

He thought that he was falling for Robin, but when she spilled her secret to him, he realized that it didn’t break his heart the way it had when Nancy told him that she didn’t love him. He only felt more love for Robin swell inside him, but not the romantic kind. She was his best friend, and that was good enough for him.

But he missed kissing. He missed holding hands, and cuddling, and he missed sex, although that probably wouldn’t surprise anyone to know. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t really a player. Deep down, he was kind of a hopeless romantic. He wasn’t looking for a fuck, he was looking for love.

But how could he look for love when his gaze was still fixed on Nancy?   
“Dude, you’ve been broken up for almost a year now,” Robin said, packing them a bowl.

“Nine months, actually,” Steve replied.

“Whatever, that’s a whole pregnancy. I know it sucks, but you can’t keep moping over someone who doesn’t want you back. Trust me.”

“How would you know?”

“Steve, I’m probably the only girl who likes girls in this whole godforsaken town,” she told him. “I know what unrequited love feels like.”

“Good point.”

She finished packing, passing him the bowl and the lighter. “First hit for the heartbroken one?” she offered.

He took it gratefully, but not without rolling his eyes at her first.

“Next time you see Nancy, don’t even let yourself look at her. Pretend she isn’t even there. You don’t need to try and hate her. All you have to do is stop caring so much.”

He let that thought linger in his mind, even after he was totally stoned, Robin absentmindedly playing with his hair as they watched reruns of  _ Saved By The Bell _ .

Maybe Robin was right (as she so often was).

He just needed to stop caring.

***

Steve was driving to work, actually early for once, and decided to stop and surprise Robin with coffee, as a thank you for her advice (and the weed).

As he walked into the coffee shop, who did he standing in line other than Nancy Wheeler herself, purple dress and curly hair. Instead of allowing himself to worry about her seeing him in his uniform, or trying to fix his hair, or look cool...He simply pretended that he didn’t notice her, getting in line like the rest of the patrons, nibbling the inside of his cheek.

Nancy grabbed a large order of bagels in a brown bag, calling a “thank you!” to the worker, turning on her heel. She saw Steve and paused.

“Hey,” she said.

“Oh, hey Nancy,” he replied, nonchalant, trying to pretend that he hadn’t recognized her.

“Are you working at the new mall?” she asked, eyeing his outfit.

“Oh, yeah, I decided to take a year off to try and earn some money before going to school,” he said. “Robin Buckley works there, too.”

“Oh, I remember Robin! Well, tell her I say hi,” she offered him a small smile, then went on her way.

He took a breath as the shop’s door closed behind her, bell jingling.

He had a conversation with her, and he hadn’t felt that familiar twist in his chest. He didn’t feel like crying. He felt...fine.

And that was a start.

He didn’t need to hate her, forgetting the good times they’d had together. He didn’t need to pretend that she hadn’t mattered to him.

He just had to pretend he didn’t miss her. Fake it til he made it.

And then, maybe one day, he’d be entirely indifferent to Nancy Wheeler.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!! i really hope that you enjoyed.
> 
> if you liked it, please consider leaving me a kudos/comment to let me know!! feedback makes every writer's day :)


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